Jcc Police Take Sickly Pit Bull From A Back Yard

JAMES CITY — Officers found the animal near where two other dogs were discovered cut earlier this past week.

James City police seized a malnourished pit bull Thursday night from a back yard outside an Old Colonial Road home near where two other dogs were found cut earlier this week.

Officers found the dog in the yard with two other pit bulls and a Chow mix that were confined to separate corners, said Maj. Stan Stout of the James City County Police Department. Officers took the malnourished dog to the county's animal shelter.

Police found blood in the yard and took small pieces of bloodstained wood from fences so lab tests can be performed, Stout said.

Police were led to the home while investigating two cases of animal cruelty. Wednesday night a female pit bull mix was found in a park on Forest Glen Drive with a 2-foot-long cut on its back and was treated at the Toano Animal Clinic.

Thursday morning police found a dog with seven cuts from 4 to 28 inches in length on its body that left its skin hanging. The dog had no known owner and was euthanized by James City County Animal Control.

Officers got a search warrant for the Old Colonial Road home after a trail of blood from the park on Forest Glen Drive led them there, according to a search warrant.

A citizen saw two males walking two or three dogs to the park before the dogs with cuts were found, the warrant indicates. The witness also said it sounded like dogs were fighting at the park.

Animal Control Supervisor Shirley Anderson said dogs are sometimes intentionally cut before dogfights to agitate them and spur them to fight.

She states in the warrant that for years she has been getting complaints that dogfights are held at the Old Colonial Road home. But Anderson said when she spoke to the homeowners, she saw no evidence of dog fighting that could have led to a search warrant of the property.

Veterinarians that examined the dogs found with cuts think both were cut with a sharp knife or razor. Police found no knives, weapons or dog fighting paraphernalia such as scales and fighting rings at the Old Colonial Road home. *